EVANSTON — Lady Red Devil basketball celebrated the 2018-19 hoops season with an awards dinner on Monday, March 18, in the Evanston Machine Shop. Radio play-by-play announcer and former Herald sports editor Jake Hibbard served as emcee.

 C-team coach Derek Query was the first to step to the podium. Query thanked his team comprised of mostly freshman girls, for being the first group for whom he served as head coach. 

“You’ll always have a special place in my heart,” Query said to his team.

The coach explained that the team lost five of the first six games to begin the season, but then turned things around, playing Star Valley for the title during the Pinedale tournament.

“We got into February and went on a tear, winning our last seven out of seven games,” Query acknowledged. “They fit the Red Devil motto to a tee,”  Query added.

C-team members were then called forth to collect their certificates. Mia Barker, Stacia Barker (whom Query singled out for the season champion award, for the most wins in practice drills) Kaitlin Deru, Kelsey Hunting, Lily Johnson, MacKenzie Porter, Abbie Rigby, Leah Sowers,Tommy Thomas, Melia Wilson and student assistant Kelse Nelson were all acknowledged with applause from the audience as they accepted their awards. Query issued some additional words of thanks to the girls, their parents and school administrators.

Assistant coach Dave Deru began by thanking his wife, Jowell, for allowing him the opportunity to coach for the past 20 years. He also thanked the parents for raising “phenomenal daughters.” Deru expressed gratitude to his fellow coaches and to this season’s senior class, of which his daughter is a member, and noted how these girls have played basketball together since fourth grade. Deru then called the junior varsity team forward as a group and stated the team went 14-8 on the season, “but we easily could have been 22-0. Every game came right down to the wire.” Deru explained that the losses were by an average of five points per game and the wins were by an average of 20. The coach spoke of his team’s defensive prowess.

“We held four teams to a total of 15 points for an entire game. We held two teams to a total of eight points and we held two teams scoreless in the second half of games,” Deru boasted.

He mentioned that he received many compliments on his team’s style of play, including one person who said, “Your team play like boys,” to which Deru said, “Thank you,” explaining to the crowd that playing like boys meant his team was “playing tougher, more physical and more aggressive” than the opposition.

Deru said the team was comprised of sophomores and juniors and he admired how they came together and gelled as a team.

“We had sophomores and juniors who had never played together but in the end they played for each other and played as a team,” the coach avowed.

He encouraged his girls to spend time in the gym shooting the basketball between now and the start of next season.

“Our defense will keep us in games, but if we can become better shooters we can take the program to the next level,” the coach affirmed.

JV team members were then recognized, including Nayeli Mota, Kambree Brown, Seanna Ellingford, Taryn Holt, Heidi Barton, Rachael Voss, Olivia Martin, Tianna Pierce and Maggie Moore. Deru spoke of a few girls who played both JV and varsity and also acknowledged freshman Stacia Barker for contributing to the junior varsity and varsity squads.

Head coach Jeremy Fessler started off by thanking the school administration and the local media. He then expressed gratitude to the team’s booster club and parents. Fessler called for a special round of applause for volunteer coach Julie Bateman, explaining that Bateman coached the sophomore team last season but there was no sophomore program this season, and praised Bateman for volunteering her valuable time. Fessler thanked coach Query and coach Deru, along with their wives. He expressed his gratitude to team bus driver Robin Shaw, as well. Team managers and student assistants, Courtney Lester and Makinzi Torres, received admiration and thanks from Fessler.

“You two save us, a lot. And you do so without having to be asked. We all appreciate you so very much,” Fessler said of Lester and Torres.

Fessler echoed Deru’s sentiment regarding the younger girls who will return to the program next season.

“We have to get into the gym. If you look at the four teams ahead of us? They bring everybody back,” the head coach declared. “It’s got to be a concerted effort and it has to be weekly. We have to get a lot of shots up,” Fessler added.

Fessler distinguished the differences between coaching boys and coaching girls and shared several comical anecdotes. He talked about summer camps and preparation for the upcoming season, explaining his belief that this year’s squad would hang their hats on defense.

“Our defense was our catalyst. To have five girls five-foot-five or under on a varsity roster and finish fourth out of 16 teams defensively just speaks volumes on how hard they worked,” Fessler affirmed.

Fessler told the crowd that his varsity girls, the coaching staff, the school and community were all disappointed that this year’s team did not qualify for the state tournament but spoke of the lifelong friendships that were formed and then addressed what he considered will be the legacy for this year’s team.

“They never gave up and they always fought. The legacy they’re leaving is the gym was packed to watch these girls play. Every day, I would receive compliments like ‘I love watching your girls play. They play so hard,’ and that means more than anything to me,” Fessler said.

This year’s team finished with a 13-12 record and they were 3-3 in conference play. Fessler alluded to the win at Mountain View as one of the highlights of the season, as the Lady Buffs had defeated Evanston four times over the course of the summer in camps. He referenced the improvement displayed by his team in how much closer they came to defeating both Star Valley and Kelly Walsh over the course of the season.The coach singled out the opening round win against Cody at the regional tournament as one of the Lady Red Devils’ best efforts. He mentioned Evanston had their chances against Star Valley in the fourth meeting between the two teams; Star Valley dominated Evanston by almost 40 points in a prior matchup. The coach was also very proud of the way Evanston came back against Rock Springs, twice, even though the Lady Red Devils ultimately fell in the final game of the season.

Varsity team members were then asked to step forward, beginning with juniors Taryn Wagstaff, Amber Lowe and Zocia Nowakowski, whom Fessler thanked for their contributions before turning his attention to this year’s seniors.

On Bailey Porter — “She is a student of the game. She watches basketball, she loves basketball and she’s put a lot of time into basketball,” Fessler said. He expressed his regret for Porter not receiving as much playing time as she would have liked, but praised her work ethic and the fact that Porter never complained. 

“I really admire Bailey. I know how hard it was for you to make it through that, but you did a wonderful job and I really appreciate everything you’ve done for the program,” Fessler said.

On Sierra Burleigh — Fessler commented on Burleigh’s versatility, even being able to place a five-foot-three girl at the post position. 

“Burleigh was physical. She liked to get in there and mix it up,” Fessler said. “She was a good role player for us. She came in and gave us great minutes. She was also a very smart player and has a great personality. She’s also my student aide. That’s Sierra Burleigh,” Fessler added.

On Kaelyn Hiatt — “Hiatt is our little point-guard and she’s the thinker on our team.She thinks, really thinks, sometimes too much,” the coach joked. “She did as amazing job of getting the ball up the court for us all season long. She got us into sets and she was the girl we always put on the best guard of the other team. She really put a lot of time in with her dad to improve her game and I really appreciate that.”

On Hannah Sowers — “As a freshman, Hannah was sort of struggling a little bit, with everything, but she just kept after it and blossomed. Basketball was very good for her and she was also a smart basketball player. You always knew she would be where she needed to be. And we placed her on the best post player on the other team. We needed her to body-up, hustle and rebound and the did a wonderful job.”

On Natalie Robbins — “She actually has a bicep,” Fessler teased. “She was our spark plug. Natalie was our enforcer, too. Sometimes she’d enforce on her own teammates,” the coach joked. Fessler credited the senior as being a big part of the team’s success and spoke of her rebounding prowess, noting double-digit efforts.

“When she set her mind to it, it was over, no matter what we asked of her,” Fessler said. Fessler explained that Robbins had to change her style of play due to knee injuries which limited the speed and quickness she once possessed. 

“She led us in steals, scored big when we needed her to, rebounded and played physical. And she grew as a person and that’s the biggest thing,” the coach concluded.

On Ajahonna Archuleta — “AJ has started for two years and it’s going to weird running our press without her. She was our catalyst on defense and was always jumping around. She’s like the Energizer Bunny. She just flies around the court,” Fessler said of Archuleta. “She led us in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots and finished in the top-10 in the conference in all those categories. She’s just an amazing, happy young lady. If we had 30 AJ’s, we’d be pretty dang good,” Fessler avowed. 

On Kori Deru — “Kori epitomizes just grit. Grit and fight,” Fessler said. The coach stated that Deru was often underestimated by the competition, due to her stature, but it didn’t last long as she was able to produce on both ends of the floor. Her teammates always had complete faith in her, according to the coach.

“She was our best shooter. She shot 36 percent from the three and I think that was top-6 in the state,” Fessler shared. “She was also top-10 in free-throw percentage and a very savvy basketball player. Kori was always calm and demonstrated a calm leadership style. If you gave her six inches, watch out,” Fessler exclaimed.

Three of the seniors received postseason awards. Robbins was named to the all-conference second team while Deru and Archuleta were first-team selections. Deru received all-state honorable mention and Archuleta was an all-state second team selection.

The awards dinner concluded with a highlight video produced by Ryan Richins.